Latest News

QMI AGENCY

May 28, 2014

, Last Updated: 5:07 PM ET

England is most successful when wearing red and manager Roy Hodgson should set the Three Lions up in a 4-3-3 system rather than a rigid, English-style 4-4-2, according to one of the smartest men in the world.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking broke down England’s potential run through next month’s World Cup using numbers and probability.

The 72-year-old thinker added he's “marginally more qualified to make predictions than Paul the Octopus,” the German sea creature who correctly “predicted” 11 of 13 matches correctly during the 2010 World Cup.

In a YouTube video posted Wednesday, Hawking uses General Logistic Regression Modelling to offer up a few England tidbits ahead of the tournament, which kicks off next month in Brazil.

Hawking and his assistants analyzed 45 of England’s World Cup matches since 1966, the year it won the competition for the only time.

The group found that England fares best when games kick off around 3 p.m., at low altitude in temperate climates.

They also found that England has the best chance when provided European officials, who are less sensitive to South American “ballerinas” like Uruguay’s Luis Suarez.

When it comes to penalty kicks, a tiebreaker England has struggled with over the years, Hawking’s findings weren’t exactly scientific.

"As we say in science," Hawking said, "England couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo."